2023 has started off with many well-known celebrities passing away (David Crosby, Cindy Williams, Jeff Beck, and the beloved Mayor Hurricane Hazel McCallion). The most shocking death, in my opinion, has been Lisa Marie Presley (“Lisa Marie”), who died just days after attending the Golden Globe Awards. Shortly after the…
Hectic, chaotic, busy, stressful, demanding are all words that can easily be a substitute for “wonderful” when thinking about our practice at this time of the year. With in-person holiday events and functions slowly starting to return to some sort of normalcy after a quiet few years, the added demands…
Procrastinator – a person who habitually puts off doing things. Intestate – dying before making a will. These two words in an estate context can make the administration of an estate a nightmare. No one likes to think about death and planning for their death. However, death is inevitable and,…
Whether you are a Royal watcher or not, today we are in mourning. Today, with the rest of Canada, the United Kingdom and the world, we mourn the loss of the longest-reigning British Monarch, Queen Elizabeth II. On Thursday September 8, 2022, the Queen passed away at the age of…
I recently returned to Fasken after taking time off to raise my son. When I started my leave in September, I was just shy of 16 years working at Fasken without any type of long term break. To shift gears from going full steam to a much slower pace with…
In my blog post of June 11, 2021, I wrote about Estate Planning and Adoption. I had many positive responses to that post from the estates community, so I thought I would write in more detail about the process. In Ontario, potential adopters can take three paths towards adoption: private…
As the date for writing this blog was approaching, I struggled to find an interesting topic to write about. I like to write about what I know or practical tips so I had to go back to the drawing board when I was drawing a blank. Today’s blog is a…
In the blog posted by Maureen Berry on October 9, 2020, my fellow clerks and I wrote about the welcome changes that were introduced that would allow for applications for certificates of appointment of estate trustee (the “Probate Application”) to be filed electronically. It has now been six months since…
In my final blog post of my three part series [link to Part one and Part two], I’ll look at what to consider when a parent or guardian is notified that their minor child has an interest in an estate. Such interest, as discussed in my other blogs, may be…
In a follow up to my blog post of September 18, 2020 (“Part One”), this blog will consider what it means if you have received notice that you are a residuary beneficiary of an estate. You are probably wondering what a residuary beneficiary is. To understand this, you must understand…








